Adak votes for incorporation

Posted: Sunday, April 15, 2001

ANCHORAGE (AP) -- Residents of Adak have voted overwhelmingly to become a city, according to state elections officials.

The count Friday from the April 3 election showed a 61-6 vote for incorporation as a second-class city, according to Janet Kowalski, director of the Division of Elections. The votes were mailed to Juneau for tallying by her division.

For the state to accept the city, voters also had to pass two accompanying tax measures, which they did. A 3 percent sales tax was approved 57-10, and a 2 percent fuel transfer tax was passed 54-12.

Along with the incorporation, voters picked a seven-member council from eleven candidates.

Adak had six thousand residents before the Navy closed its base there. Now, the population on the island 500 miles west of Unalaska is estimated at roughly 300.

There are 424 registered voters on Adak, Kowalski said. Many of them are likely no longer active voters, but federal laws make it hard for election officials to purge voting rolls.

For the precinct including Adak, 33 votes were cast for president in 2000 out of 561 registered voters, for a turnout of less than 6 percent. In the 1998 election, 36 voters were recorded out of 1,177 registered for a 3 percent official turnout. The precinct runs from Adak to the far end of the Aleutian chain.